ArticleInternational journal of epidemiology2026
Unveiling heat vulnerability of older adults: an assessment of emergency hospital admissions in Switzerland.
Article in International journal of epidemiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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2 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundOlder adults are highly vulnerable to heat, yet how individual characteristics modulate its effects remains unclear. We assessed heat-related emergency hospital admission (EHA) risk across subpopulations of older adults receiving home care services in Switzerland (2019-2022).
methodsWe analysed patient-level EHA data linked to daily maximum temperature by MedStat regions of residence. We employed a case time series design with quasi-Poisson regression and distributed lag non-linear models to examine heat-related EHA risk, stratifying by individual characteristics, including sociodemographic factors, pre-existing health conditions, primary diagnosis, and levels of dependency and social interaction.
resultsThe overall heat-related EHA risk was 1.12 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04-1.20) (at 99th percentile vs minimum temperature percentile risk). Males (1.16; 1.04-1.29) generally showed higher heat-related EHA risk than females (1.09; 0.98-1.20), except among those aged ≥85 years (females 1.16; 1.00-1.34 vs males 1.06; 0.90-1.26). Regarding functional capacity, females requiring assistance with daily tasks had an increased heat-related EHA risk, whereas males showed the opposite trend, with higher risk among those who were independent. Sex-specific analyses revealed that anxiety and dementia/Alzheimer's disease were risk factors for females, whereas cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and coronary heart disease were risk factors for males. Joint stratification by pre-existing health conditions and primary diagnosis showed that individuals with pre-existing cancer had higher risks of admission for circulatory, genitourinary, infectious, and endocrine/metabolic causes during heat exposure.
conclusionOur results show that older individuals are not equally vulnerable to heat, underscoring the need for targeted public health interventions to protect high-risk older adults.
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